After all parts removed were cleaned and/or painted, the process of re-installing parts back onboard began. While the bow pulpit was off and being cleaned, Jilly discovered a crack and hole on the lower aft corner. That was sent off to a welding shop for repairs and was returned the next day. Thanks to Haracio in La Cruz for his valuable assistance. First I set the bowsprit on the bow and bedded it with 3M 4000 bedding compound.

Clean Boat Bling and Cha Cha. The Sampson Post and Bowsprit strap were bedded and bolted into position.

Next was bedding the windlass and installing all of its cha cha. Next was starting to re-string the rigging. All was re-connected except for the Jib roller furling which needed its lower bearing replaced. This was a bit easier and a bit more difficult than it seemed. First the roller drum at the base of the foil came off easily. This allowed me be able to work on removing the large oil/grease seal from the bottom of the drum. The center shaft that the bearing rides on has a heavy duty circlip retainer keeping the bearing in place and preventing the shaft from riding upward. This little tidbit will be revisited later. The center shaft could then be tapped out through the top of the drum. After I cleared the shaft from the drum, another oil/grease seal and another circlip is visible and attached to the shaft. It is important to note that the two circlips on the shaft index the bearing placement on the shaft. I was able to locate the necessary replacement bearing and shaft seals locally here in the Banderas Bay area as the seals and bearings are standard type machine grade parts. There is a large circlip that insets against the interior of the drum against the outer ring of the bearing to index it against the drum housing. After removing that circlip, I was able to tap the bearing out of the drum. The ProFurl bearing and seal kit was somewhere in the neighborhood of $350 USD … if you can get one. The rigging shop in San Diego would not sell it to me because they have to be the ones that install it. I found all the parts I need here in the Banderas Bay area for approximatel $95 USD.

Ready to put it all back together, it went back together about as easy as it came apart. I recommend that you have some kind of heavy duty circlip tool for removal and re-installing the circlips. Those rings are very stout. Pack the bearing and the area between the seals with a good marine grade grease, but not too much. I used a straight probe carefully inserted between the shaft and the inner part of the seal to allow excess grease and air to escape while tapping the seal into place. I could now re-install the drum on the headsails foil. The forestay furler was attached allowing me to start tuning the standing rigging. Dazzler is starting to look like a sailboat again.

After tuning the rigging, we hoisted the staysail and furled it up. Next was the headsail. We hoisted it up with its halyard and I put the extra tug to set it in place. Now was the moment of truth. Did replacing the bearing correct the stiff roller furling of the sail? The answer was yes, but as I looked at the drum something didn’t look right. The lower shaft had pulled the top seal almost out of the top of the drum and was elevated about two inches above where it should have been. Knowing how the drum was put together, I knew that the lower circlip had some how failed. Which meant I had to de-tune the standing rigging, drop the Jib Sail and remove the roller drum, AGAIN, to take it apart.

The shaft pulled upward.

The dislodged seal

Well, the culprit was the lower circlip was too thick and did not seat into the grove on the shaft, which allowed the shaft to slide upward when I loaded the forestay halyard. I had another circlip that was a few millimeters thinner and that was the end of that. BTW, I was able to find the heavy duty circlip at another tienda here in Mexico also. Lucky or just holding my mouth right I guess.

The double repaired drum was re-installed, the forestay roller re-attached, the rigging returned and the headsail installed again. All was good!

Everything is back together and working great.The Guiding Star. All cleaned up, polished and ready to Lead Dazzler onto new horizons and adventures.

As part of this bowsprit project I decided to replace the stainless lifelines with Dynema material. Since I had already purchased the Dynema line, I only needed a few end terminals, which I acquired at the local Marine chandlery in La Cruz. Two afternoons of splicing and the lifelines were completed. Dazzler’s stanchions are equipped with rings welded onto them to allow the line to easily pass through. I carefully marked those locations on the Dynema and spliced Dynema covers onto the lifelines. It turned out very nice. If attempting to do these cover splices, I recommend that you complete the first cover splice and then mark where you plan to make the next cover splice. I discovered that the splice reduced the length of the line by approximately one inch for each splice.

Spectra cover buried in the Dyneema Line.

The Dynema was so easy to work with and splice. I was able to remove a few splices and move the splice to the correct location. I used about 16” of Dynema cover for each splice. I also stitched each splice with Dynema whipping twine to finish it all off.

Parts List for the ProFurl furling drum and life lines

Bearing FAG #16010, this seems to be a standard number with different manufacturers

December is that time of year that many of you are thinking of how you will spend the holidays and the Dazzler crew is no exception. Our holiday is consisting of getting the larger projects onboard checked off the TO DO list in preparation for crossing the Pacific Ocean to the South Pacific in March of 2018. The list is long and distinguished. First up was beefing up the bulkhead for the auto pilot hydraulic ram.

Dazzler’s Cranse Collar

There is now two inches of marine plywood, penetrating epoxy applied and painted and two quarter inch pieces of stainless steel plate that form the base plate for the hydraulic ram. That should handle any loads just fine.

Next up, the job of removing Dazzler’s bowsprit. Why do you remove what looks like a perfectly good bowsprit? I could say because it’s there, but the reality is that I removed it about ten years ago to repair a small area of wood rot. Then I repainted it and re-installed it. Two thoughts have gone through my mind in preparing for our upcoming crossing. Is Dazzler’s bowsprit sound? Should I decommission and disassemble her bow rigging to check and be sure?

I first used a hammer with a plastic head to sound the bowsprit. Everything sounded fine except for a small area aft of the windlass. Knowing the history of Dazzler’s bowsprit, I didn’t want to take any chances. So, the decision was made to remove it for closer inspection and repainting. Okay, I was going to repaint it anyway, but removing it makes the job easier and the results will look much nicer and we will have peace of mind knowing if there are any gremlins in the bowsprit.

First, we have to strip all the rigging and hardware off the bowsprit. When you first look at this kind of job your thought might be, “There isn’t too much to take off.” Ha ha ha! There is a lot more than meets the eye. Just saying. Before stripping anything, both the staysail and jib sail were removed and then the standing rigging had to be detuned.

The bowsprit is ready to disconnect the roller furling gear and remove the pulpit.

Next up was removing the roller furling gear, bob stay and whisker stays. Dazzler’s bow pulpit and deck boards that are bolted down to the top of the bowsprit were next. There is a stainless strap forward of the windlass and an integrated stainless steel strap and Sampson post aft of the windlass. Both straps saddle the bowsprit and are through bolted to the foredeck. Dazzler is equipped with a Lighthouse windlass that has a vertical shaft that passes through the middle of the beam and deck and into the anchor locker where it’s motor is mounted to the bottom of the shaft. The strap bolts and motor must be disconnected before the sprit can be removed.

Round head slotted fastener and its replacement.

Boats built in Taiwan in the seventies and eighties had a special style head on the fasteners that look like a large slot. Although it has a great finished look, those slotted heads are very difficult to get a wrench on to remove them. One of these said bolts 5/8″ in diameter and about 12″ long also passes through the bowsprit and deck to help index the sprit. Several years ago I bought a ½” drive socket that had a wide screwdriver bit on top. This was the best solution that I could find for removing these types of bolts. On a side note, these types of bolts have proven to be very difficult to remove without first removing skin from your knuckles. Trust me, I know. Additionally, these style fasteners are difficult to get enough torque to turn them even with the ½” ratchet and screwdriver socket. I had to result to using a pair of vise grip style pliers to remove the bolt. A new hex head bolt has been obtained for replacement.

When I re-installed Dazzler’s sprit in 2007, I put a layer of calking on the deck under it to help keep water from settling under it and thus keeping the area between the sprit and deck drier. This trick seemed to work, but added a level of difficulty in removing the sprit from the deck. I used a halyard tied around the sprit near the stem of the bow to assist in lifting it from its bedded position. Using the halyard and mast wench worked like a champ for lifting the bowsprit from the bedding compound.

After Dazzler’s bowsprit was removed, the job of cleaning all of the bow hardware and fasteners began. Along with sanding paint off the sprit to inspect for any hidden damage. I was very pleased to find that the bowsprit was sound and had no visible signs of rot or damaged areas.

The resting bowsprit. Notice the discoloration from the metal straps and fasteners. It will all cleanup nicely.

Just one of the many containers of cleaned fasteners.

Dazzler, like many cruising boats, is equipped with a small chandlery onboard as well as all the supplies needed to complete the painting project. In 2007, when I first removed the bowsprit, I used Awlgrip paint. 10 years of wear and use for a paint is a reasonable expectation. In 2013, I removed Dazzler’s teak decks and repainted her decks with Alexseal paint. I chose Alexseal based on recommendations from Dan at San Diego Marine Exchange (SDME). Dan had worked for many years as a boat finish painter and was a wealth of tips, tricks and advise. I have been very happy with those results as well. Alexseal, like Awlgrip, is a linear polyurethane blend of paint. Both are very durable and require mixing two to three components before painting. Yes, a can of Easypoxy would be easier to apply, but ten years of durable use and looking good speak for themselves. The initial cost is more expensive compared to other paints like Easypoxy. With all the work involved removing the bowsprit, I figured my initial investment for a ten-year yield is worth it. Additionally the painted surface is very durable and forgiving to small dings, which will happen.

That’s it for now. I have to get back to working on the bowsprit, so we can keep moving forward in passage preparations. I’ll be putting together part two after this job is done. Where is that tube of Neosporine?